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 282 AKBAR'S EELIGIOUS VIEWS be right, and thus his Majesty, who had an excellent understanding and sought after the truth, but was sur- rounded by low irreligious persons to whom he gave his confidence, was plunged into scepticism. Doubt ac- cumulated upon doubt and the object of his search was lost. The ramparts of the law and of the true faith were broken down, and in the course of five or six years not a single trace of Islam was left in him. There were many reasons for this, but I shall men- tion only a few. Learned men of various kinds and from every country, as well as adherents of many different religions and creeds, assembled at his court and were admitted to converse with him. Mght and day people did nothing but inquire and investigate. Profound points of science, the subtleties of revelation, the curiosities of history, and the wonders of nature were the continual themes of discussion. His Majesty collected the opinions of every one, especially of those who were not Mohammedans, retaining whatever he approved and rejecting everything which was against his disposition and ran counter to his wishes. From his earliest childhood to his manhood, and from his manhood to old age, his Majesty passed through the most diverse phases and through all sorts of religious practices and sectarian beliefs, and collected everything which people can find in books, with a talent of selec- tion peculiar to him and a spirit of inquiry opposed to every Islamitic principle. Thus a faith, based on some elementary principles, traced itself on the mirror of his heart, and as the result